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I couldn't find the specific paper I referenced earlier. I was searching for something unrelated when I stumbled upon it, so I'm not sure I can find it again. I did, however, find an interesting review paper with lots of interesting stuff on childhood weight predictors:

It basically says that there is conflicting evidence. I'm on campus right now so I'm not sure if the whole article is accessible or not, so here is the relevant paragraph:

Investigators have examined the timing of initiation of solid food in an infant’s diet and how it influences risk of obesity. According to Burdette et al. (2006a), the timing of initiation of complementary feeding did not affect the adiposity of children at 5 years of age. Yet, Wilson et al. (1998) found that initiation of solids before 15 weeks was associated with heavier children and proportionately more body fat by approximately 7 years of age. It is not clear from the current research when the optimal time is for the initiation of solids, though the AAP recommends that complementary foods be initiated between 4 and 6 months of age (Kleinman, 2004).

I thought this was pretty interesting too, albeit tangential to the current discussion:

Maternal style of feeding when infants transition from a milk-based diet to solid foods influences risk of obesity in childhood (American Heart Association [AHA] et al., 2006). Fisher, Birch, Smicklas-Wright, and Picciano (2000) reported that mothers who breastfed their infants for 12 months or longer were more responsive to the hunger and satiety cues of their infants and used lower levels of control over infants’ food choices, amounts, and frequency when feeding their children as toddlers when compared to mothers whose infants were fed formula. Similarly, Taveras et al. (2004) reported that breastfeeding promoted maternal responsiveness to infants’ hunger and satiation cues and the development of shared parent-infant regulation of food. Mothers who breastfed for longer duration were not as likely to control or restrict their child’s food intake at 1 year of age.

Mothers who breastfed their infants used lower levels of control over infants’ food choices, amounts, and frequency when feeding their children as toddlers.

Maternal control of children’s food intake has been linked to mothers’ own weight status. Wardle, Sanderson, Guthrie, Rapoport, and Plomin (2002) found that obese mothers exerted greater control over their child’s food intake (e.g., deciding how many snacks their child should have), while normal-weight mothers demonstrated less control, allowing children to self-regulate. Farrow and Blissett (2006) observed 69 mothers and found that mothers with high controlling behaviors whose infants had a high rate of weight gain from birth to 6 months also gained more weight during the last part of their first year, when compared to infants with less controlling mothers. Infants of low- or moderately controlling mothers appeared to self-regulate’ their own weight gain over their first year.

Infants’ and toddlers’ ability to self-regulate dietary intake was explored by Fox, Devaney, Reidy, Razafindrakoto, and Ziegler (2006). Infants and toddlers who ate less frequently during the day consumed larger-than-average portions at each eating occasion, whereas infants who ate more frequently consumed smaller-than-average portions. Infants fed more energy dense foods (computed as kilocalories/gram for all foods and beverages over a 24-hour period) ate smaller portions than infants who ate less energy dense foods. Additionally, the more variety of foods that infants 6 to 11 months of age were given, the greater the portion sizes they consumed, a finding that was not observed in older and younger age groups.

A more recent paper shows a link between early introduction of solids and obesity, but only in formula fed babies:

Re: My mother in law is pushing me to introduce cereal

Another consideration is that she is a big woman, she doesn't have the best dietary choices for herself. So following her advice in regards to food doesn't really make sense now does it? I mean, you don't get driving advice from someone who has lost their license or computer advice from someone who is computer illiterate.

DH's side is overweight, has heart issues and diabetes. Everything is processed, out of a box, with corn syrup or other garbage. SIL2 gave DD1 a BUCKET of month old Easter candy. She was 2. Needless to say it went straight into the garbage. When we go to family get togethers, we bring fruit so that the girls have healthy choices. I'm always happy to see them reach for a berry over a cheezy.

My point is that this is YOUR child and you need to make the informed choices for YOUR family. I would have gone BALISTIC if I had found out that they were giving my baby 'tastes' of a margarita. It's so inappropriate on so many levels, and DANGEROUS!! The fact that they thought it was funny means they have no respect for you or any concern for your LO's health and safety. It isn't funny to give helpless beings dangerous things.

Re: My mother in law is pushing me to introduce cereal

Originally Posted by @llli*krysbe

She's not grasping the concept of waiting 3-4 days before introducing a new food, and this weekend she stayed w/ MIL for our anniversary and she gave my daughter a toddler gerber cookie to chew on! We have not introduced wheat, and IMO those cookies are for toddlers because they are big, break, and could be a choking hazard. This probably happened because I did not put my foot down on other things as firmly, or as quickly, as I should have (like when I found out they were sharing "tastes" of their margaritas with her, I let DH give it to them because I was too chicken and too mad!).

Sorry - different poster than the OP. I just about when I read it and missed who was posting it.

Re: My mother in law is pushing me to introduce cereal

No no, my mother in law never offered my son any margarita. Alcohol is actually against her religion @llli*krysbe was the one who mentioned that.

Being a first time mom I am so excited to get to start introducing my son to solid foods, and get to help him experience a healthy relationship with food, so I understand where my mother in law is coming from but I'm glad I'm not being over protective in saying absolutely not before 4 months. My husband has a lot of food restrictions in regards to what kinds of foods and textures he can eat because of how non committed she was to making sure he ate the right foods when he was young and luckily for me he is completely behind me on this because of that.
He has also agreed with me that no child under two needs junk food or candy at all, I just wish his mother would get on board already.

Re: My mother in law is pushing me to introduce cereal

You may want to rethink her keeping him overnight if you can't trust her on food boundaries. I think it's ok for kids to get fun foods with grandparents every once in a while, but if it's a once a week thing, that would bother me. Of course, I'm not one for leaving my kids overnight anywhere with anyone, Lilah has only been away from me when her sister was born, so take my thoughts for what they're worth to you.

Re: My mother in law is pushing me to introduce cereal

Originally Posted by @llli*hippehpanda

By feeding schedule what I really mean is time guidline. My son has received formula supplementation since his birth. I tried feeding him breastmilk exclusively for a week or two but he would go almost two days without a stool and seemed so uncomfortable so we added the formula back into his diet. Now he receives breastmilk in the mornings and evening and formula during the afternoon which has both relieved his gas pains and helped to make him more regular.

Gotcha. When I see the word "schedule" I get worried. Too many instances of babies getting sick because mom has been advised to feed the baby infrequently!

Do you want to continue to give baby formula? There are a lot of benefits to consuming a 100% breastmilk diet. It's the healthiest, most balanced substance any of us ever get to eat, and it's right there on the can: "Breastmilk is best". IMO the value of consuming 100% breastmilk is worth the price of some gassiness and fussing. It sounds like your baby's poop frequency when he only ate breast I'll worried you- but it really shouldn't. It is normal for a breastfed baby to poop anywhere from multiple times per day to just once a week. One reason why breastfed babies can go long periods between poops is because breastmilk is so digestible that there is little waste left over. Formula-fed babies often poop more often because formula is full of stuff that their guts cannot assimilate, so it must be passed through.

My mother in law has been very pushy since his birth. She wanted to bed share with him when he stays over night with her, and tried to fight with me when I told her it was unsafe. She is a much larger woman, and I have hesitations to bed share with him myself. She fusses over him 100% of the time she is around him and refuses to allow him any alone time to entertain himself, which is very important to me.

Sounds like someone has a case of Grabby Grandma Syndrome. Sometimes grannies think that they deserve a second chance to raise a baby, and they forget that you are the mommy, and that this is YOUR turn to raise YOUR child. Definintely draw some boundaries now, because this sort of thing doesn't stop when your baby is a baby. It will go on for his entire childhood.

And obviously, bed-sharing with someone who a) isn't your mom, b) isn't breastfeeding (and therefore lacks the sensitive awareness of a nursing mother), and c) has a weight issue, is a huge co-sleeping no-no!

Another question though, when I do start introducing foods has anyone introduced one of those baby yogurts first?

Yogurt is an okay first food for an older baby- 6 months or more- but avoid anything that's marketed as "baby" yogurt. It's usually packed with sugar. Better to use whole milk plain yogurt.

ETA: krysbe- margaritas for a baby? Crazy town! I would have gone ballistic.